Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenge: Mud’s week 10 challenge – use one of the following phrases in a fic: 1) Life is a war. To survive is a struggle or 2) Shrapnel was named for an Englishman. Don’t you wish you could have something named for you?
Orders
By TT
Ranger stood to the side of the room, smirking and exchanging an amused look with Tank.
In the center of the room, Stephanie and Lula were sitting near Mary Alice and Angie. Mrs. Plum was in a chair to the side and Grandma Mazur was pacing back and forth in front of them all looking remarkably serious.
It was the day after Thanksgiving. Valerie had sprained her ankle the day before and would be unable to go shopping, so she had begged Stephanie to take the girls to get started on their Christmas shopping. Knowing she would never be able to track both girls, Stephanie had called in reinforcements in the form of Lula and her mother.
When Grandma Mazur heard about it, she insisted that she be included. As the most experienced shopper of the group, she insisted on “briefing” her nieces before the event. After all, this would be Angie and Mary Alice’s first foray into Black Friday shopping.
Since Stephanie was living at Rangeman while her apartment was repaired, Ranger had overheard her planning the event with Lula and had been curious. Despite the fact he admitted to having sisters and a mother, Ranger had smirked at the preparation and teased Stephanie about it.
That teasing had led to him being “volunteered” to drive and run bags to the car so the women could continue shopping.
They never did find out how Lula talked Tank into coming along. Neither man understood exactly what they were in for today.
Eventually, Grandma Mazur spoke. Ellen and Stephanie recognized it as the same speech they had received before their first foray. “Life is a war,” Grandma declared. “To survive is a struggle.” She stopped directly in front of the girls and held their eyes. “Life has nothing on today. Today ‘struggle’ doesn’t begin to cover it. If you plan on making it out with your purchases intact, you need to set aside any preconceived ideas you have about polite society. This… this is going to be Hell on Earth. You have to be strong to survive.”
Her eyes boring into Angie, she informed, “Girl. You have the smarts to plan your attack. Deception, distraction and diversion will be your strengths.” Turning to the younger girl and held her eyes. “You think you’re a horse. Well horses bite, kick and step on toes. Don’t be afraid to use that to your advantage.”
Standing straight, she looked at the women before her and in a commanding tone that would make most Drill Sergeants jealous, she instructed, “You all have your money. You have your lists. Everyone else is the enemy. Work together and don’t be afraid to throw an elbow or two. Move out!”
Ranger and Tank were both struggling to contain their laughter.
Ten hours later
Ranger and Tank sat in the whirlpools down in the men’s locker room at Rangeman. Their eyes were closed and the occasional grimace would cross their faces as they shifted.
“We’ve been in some hellish situations,” Tank observed, pain and exhaustion evident in his voice.
Ranger grunted his agreement.
“That was worse than all of them,” he admitted, hissing as he shifted his leg. He would have a nasty bruise there for a while thanks to a bitty little five-foot nothing white-haired devil in disguise who had wanted something behind him.
His only response was a grunt of agreement as Ranger shifted and let out a soft moan of pain.
End.